Many proposals have been made to collect and contain oil from a body of water in an oil spill.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,172 shows the use of polymer filled sacks which are dumped into an oil spill to soak up the oil for recovery.
Canadian application no: 2,418,051 shows a strip of material made up of flax which is laid out in a spill to contain the spill and absorb the oil.